All posts in Children & Families

Meghan is a single mother struggling to support her family while simultaneously rebuilding her home and complying with all RREM requirements. Her ex-husband took all the FEMA and flood insurance money for himself, without making any repairs to the home. Currently, Meghan is working with a non-profit builder and is intent on increasing her employment hours to cover the cost of the rebuild. She spends her days attending to her family’s emotional needs, applying for financial assistance and working as much as possible. In spite of all of her efforts, Meghan still needs $3,000 that will go toward rental assistance and gas gift cards. The cards will reduce travel expenses incurred from being displaced for the last several years.

30% of our clients have children! Donate today so we can continue to help people like Meghan and her children.

Joe and his 12-year-old daughter moved into their Little Egg Harbor home just one month before Superstorm Sandy destroyed it. They thought rock bottom was being told that they couldn’t even go back inside their ruined home to retrieve any belongings because the structure was unsafe.

But the real horror came when they were turned away from grant after grant because they had difficulty proving they had been living in the home due to their recent move before the storm. After years of battling through the state grant process, Joe has finally been awarded most of the funds necessary to rebuild his home. He still has a gap of $12,000, however, because many other resources that were available to Sandy survivors have dried up while he was stuck proving his eligibility. With this assistance Joe and his daughter will be able to build a future.

“Lorraine”, her husband and their five children have been forced to move nine times since being displaced by Superstorm Sandy. To make matters worse, a fraudulent contractor stole $60,000 dollars of their RREM grant. He has since been charged and imprisoned but it took them a full year to be reimbursed through NJ RREM fraud policy. OCLTRG has assisted this family with rent and monthly expenses to help ease their massive financial strain.

Currently, we are seeking funding for two objectives: 1) to complete extensive mold remediation, a direct result of the house sitting unfinished for the past year, and 2) financial assistance to enable their young children to participate in summer and extracurricular activities. We estimate that another $11,200 will make this family whole again.

Over last four years, “Harry” and “Grace” have been forced to live in a trailer and several different rental properties. Their home in Little Egg Harbor was severely damaged by three feet of water and had to be completely demolished. Initially Harry and Grace’s case was being handled through the Mental Health Association of NJ. However, after MHANJ’s funding for disaster case management ended, their case was transferred to OCLTRG for rental assistance. Upon reviewing Harry and Grace’s case, we learned that their rebuild was stalled for months because the contractor filed for bankruptcy. This left them with no remaining accessible funding and a half-finished home. Fortunately, following the advocacy efforts of OCLTRG and partner agencies, the state rental assistance programs for homeowners, RREM and LMI, have been extended.

The OCLTRG is now working with the family to find funding to finish their project. A Future with Hope, one of our nonprofit building partners, is intent on helping us get this job done but even with the use of volunteer labor it will cost $12, 300 to get Harry and Grace back home.

Donate today so we can continue to help families like Harry and Grace.